The Daily Orange (Syracuse) Map: See how coronavirus threatens SU Abroad programs - "SU Abroad’s Florence program was suspended last week after an outbreak in northern Italy. The university has directed all programs to develop contingency plans as cases of the virus are reported in countries of four remaining SU Abroad programs."

People

University of Minnesota: The Edge of Impossibility: An Interview with Eric Shook - "Eric Shook, assistant professor in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society, is using geospatial computing to make data on cropland a usable resource for research, policymaking, and uses yet to be uncovered." "This interview is part of a series that highlights faculty research at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Liberal Arts." Via @mmdolbow.

Montana Kaimin: Uncharted Territory - The school paper offers a profile if big cat habitat mapper and University of Montana GIS instructor, Kevin McManigal, who I've noted before in this newsletter. He came back to UM in 2018 with an agreement to do so for three years. "UM isn’t fully out of its budget crisis, and changes are still happening. The entire geography department was absorbed into the forestry school in fall 2019. The GIS certificate is being reduced from 20 credits to 18. Regardless, McManigal thinks things are heading in the right direction, and he’s happy to be teaching."

Illinois State University News: Aondover Tarhule named vice president and provost - Dr. Aondover Tarhule will serve as the vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, effective July 1. Tarhule is a physical geographer who works on how climate impacts water scarcity and security who currently serves as vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at Binghamton University.

Virginia Association of Surveyors: VAS Awards Honorary Member to Dr. Gladys West - "On Saturday, February 22, (fittingly, on George Washington’s Birthday and the last day of National Engineers Week), a delegation from VAS presented a certificate of Honorary Member to Dr. Gladys West, a mathematician and native Virginian known for her contributions to the mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of the satellite geodesy models that were eventually incorporated into the Global Positioning System (GPS). Representing VAS was President Gary Faulhaber, Second Vice President Alison Hanson, Dave Doyle (Honorary Member of VAS and former Chief Geodetic Surveyor of the National Geodetic Survey), and Executive Director John Palatiello." Via GIS User.

EuroGeographics: The full report, Authoritative Data in a European Context, from October 2019, is available for all for free. "EuroGeographics is an international not-for-profit organisation and the membership association for the European National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registry Authorities. It currently brings together members from 46 countries, covering the whole of geographical Europe." Via press release.

Class Central: 1400+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely Free - The vast majority of Coursera courses provide only a limited free audit part, but others offer everything except the certificate (including graded assignments) for free. Dhawal Shah is both the CEO of Class Central and a programmer, so he found them all and listed them. Among them is still the classic Maps and the Geospatial Revolution from Pennsylvania State University ★★★★★(11).

UMass: The Geography Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is offering two GIS courses for the summer term. Both can be taken online or in person at our Mt. Ida campus in Newton, MA:- Cartography and Geovisualization (Geography 493A) OnlineIn person- Introduction to GIS (Geography 593G) OnlineIn person
Via Joe Kopera on Esri HigherEd-L.

Money

News at UNG: USG awards $30,000 to UNG and Kennesaw State to write New Open-Source Textbook: "The University System of Georgia recently awarded faculty members at the University of North Georgia (UNG) and Kennesaw State University with an Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) Textbook Transformation Grant. The $30,000 grant will allow five faculty members to create no-cost or low-cost course materials similar to a textbook for geographic information science (GIS) courses at the two schools. Currently, the textbook costs $85 to $99, according to the proposal. The total projected savings per academic year is more than $31,000."

Opportunities and Contests

SPAR3D: Submissions Open for Younger Geospatial Professional of the Year - "SPAR 3D Expo and Conference and Lidar News are pleased to announce that video submissions are now being accepted for the 2nd Annual Younger Geospatial Professional of the Year Award (YGP of the Year Award) competition. ... The award will be presented at the SPAR 3D Expo & Conference 2020 taking place in Chicago, IL, June 3 – 5." Submission are due March 31.